Last Friday, I wrote an article about the blessings of social media for Christians. One of those blessings is thinktanking:
There are a lot of godly people out there who have read a lot of books, listened to a lot of teachers, know a lot of Scripture, and been through a lot of experiences. Harness their knowledge and share your own.
And I thought- what better way to demonstrate and make use of thinktanking than to enlist the help of my blog and social media readers to answer the questions of fellow readers that have me stumped or that I’m unable to research at the moment?
So today, I’m sharing a few of those questions and asking my readers to help answer them in the comments section. (I’ll chime in a little, but I’ll mostly be relying on your answers.)
To the “Askers”
Please keep in mind that I have readers from all sorts of doctrinal schools of thought, and varied levels of discernment and spiritual maturity, who may be answering your questions. While I’ll do my best to weed out any false doctrine/false teachers before posting their answers, you must do the work of comparing everything to Scripture before believing it or using it as a biblically trustworthy resource.
To the “Answerers”
To answer a question, scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page and answer in the comment box. If you’re new to the blog or have never read the comment parameters in the Welcome tab, please do so before answering. Answers violating these parameters will not be published. Please make clear which question you’re answering. Helpful hint- more people will read your answer if you keep it fairly brief. Links to useful, biblical resources are encouraged. Your answer might be edited for length or doctrine.
All set? Here we go!
1. Do you know of any doctrinally sound resources for visually impaired people?
As far as books, descriptive videos, etc., I just don’t know. I can tell you that Bible Gateway has a page of audio resources, including audio Bibles (click the drop down- I’d recommend ESV, NASB, HCSB/CSB, or NKJV. You’ll want to avoid NIV and MSG.) and devotionals (listen discerningly, some of these may not be doctrinally sound).
Any readers out there familiar with biblical resources for our visually impaired friends?
2. Can you recommend any doctrinally sound “Christian living” (relationships, modesty, stewardship, suffering, etc.) books or materials specifically geared toward college-aged (late teens-early 20s) young adults?
Though I have no doubt they’re out there, I’m not familiar with any of the books/materials specifically written for this age group.
Which young adult books or materials would you recommend?
3. Do you know of any doctrinally sound books or resources in Russian or Latvian?
Bible Gateway has Bible translations in a variety of languages including Russian, but I cannot speak to how accurate any of them are. I know that prolific, doctrinally sound authors like John MacArthur and R.C. Sproul have had their books translated into many languages, so I would suggest checking the Grace to You and Ligonier online stores or possibly e-mailing them for more information. Beyond that, I have no idea.
Anybody experienced in Russian/Latvian or know a missionary in that area who could make a good recommendation?
4. Can you recommend a doctrinally sound church in any of the following areas:
Harrisonburg, Virginia
Wichita, Kansas
The United Kingdom (this reader is also looking for “any faithful teachers, bloggers, charities, businesses in the UK.”)
Each of these readers has already been directed to the Searching for a new church? tab at the top of this page. It contains several good church search engines (including churches pastored by Master’s Seminary grads). This is a request for recommendations of churches, ministries, etc., you’re personally familiar with.
5. “I home school, and we participate in Classical Conversations. I’ve noticed some problems with my CC group: unruly children/lack of discipline, and some concerning unbiblical beliefs and practices. Are these problems that are common in other CC groups?”
I home school, and, while I have friends who participate in CC, we don’t, and I’m not very familiar with it. My guess is that there are going to be similar problems in any home school group (or, for that matter, any group that involves parents and children).
Home schooling readers- any input here?
If you have a question about: a Bible passage, an aspect of theology, a current issue in Christianity, or how to biblically handle a family, life, or church situation, comment below (I’ll hold all questions in queue {unpublished} for a future edition of The Mailbag) or send me an e-mail or private message. If your question is chosen for publication, your anonymity will be protected.
Michelle Lesley 
Question 4. Doctrinally sound reformed churches in the UK that I’m aware of:
Grace Baptist Church, Wood Green, London – Pastor Barry King.
Metropolitan Tabernacle Church, London – pastor Peter Masters
Grace Life London – London
Maidenbower Baptist Church in Crawley and
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Thanks, Lisa. Now that you mention it, I’ve heard a little about Grace Life, London- all good! :0)
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I can tackle the CC question (#5), as I’m a CC mom in the Midwest! I’m going to say it’s a little bit of both. CC only requires directors to hold to a minimal statement of faith, and not one that really impacts daily life. In other words, even nominal Christians would say, “Oh yeah! I believe all that!” Parents aren’t required to sign a statement of faith at all, so you’re going to encounter people who believe any manner of things. There also isn’t a behavioral standard (which, honestly, drives me insane, as a tutor).
I also serve at a level of leadership within CC, locally, so I travel and meet many different communities. Our community is led by a reformed pastor’s wife; most of us are reformed believers, but not all. We have parents with *very* different parenting styles & beliefs, and I choose to see it as God refining me. I am leading a number of our moms through Paul Tripp’s new “Parenting” book, but we can’t make everyone read it, as much as we’d love to. Our community is close-knit, supportive, and very much one who models what I believe CC is all about. I have visited plenty that are…not so much. The director and the moms set the tone. (We also have lots of “older” moms, so…)
But since CC’s main point is parents are the teachers, all I can do is focus on teaching *my* kid and pray for the others. That’s hard: I want to poloce others’ behavior, but I have to focus only on my family.
Stick with it – it seems the older the kids get, the more that sort of stuff gets weeded out. When they hit logic and theology in Challenge, even the parents have to confront Truth. And Practicum this year will strengthen your debate & logic abilities, including how to approach some of these things possibly!
A lot of us on Twitter are CC parents – if you’re there, find me :). And I blog about it, too. Feel free to follow up with me there!
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Thanks, Rachel. Very helpful! :0)
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I’m not sure if this is what your visually impaired questioner is looking for, but Focus on the Family radio theater has some wonderful audio dramatizations of The Chronicles of Narnia, Les Miserables, and my personal favorite, The Hiding Place. They are true to the books, and really bring them to life with a complete cast and sound effects.
As far as books on living for young adults, Leslie Ludy’s books are great for ladies. Voice of the Martyrs has a lot of resources on martyrs and world missions (and you can go to their headquarters in Oklahoma and volunteer in the warehouse, they have fully furnished apartments onsite, we’ve been for a week three times now, and have been tremendously blessed by our time there). Dave Ramsey’s finance books are helpful for budgeting, etc.
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Thanks, Joy! :0)
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Answer to question #4 churches and ministries in UK:
For over 10 years we have periodically gone to Northern England on business. Found a wonderful bible teaching and friendly reformed church called Zion Evangelical Baptist church in Ripon, North Yorkshire. We have visited there numerous times and keep in touch with several friends via email.
http://www.zionripon.org.uk/#
They publish a Christian newspaper called Evangelical Times
https://www.evangelical-times.org//
The website has a church search page too:
https://churches.evangelical-times.org/churches/
Zion church or the folks at ET would be a great resource for all things Christian in UK. They partner with solid churches throughout UK for bible rallies and conferences.
Two other church options for England:
Metropolitan Tabernacle in London (aka Spurgeon’s church)
http://metropolitantabernacle.org/
Hanney Chapel (near Oxford)
http://www.hanney-chapel.org.uk/
In Scotland:
http://inverness-rbc.org/
They also have an online magazine:
http://www.wicketgate.co.uk/opening_new.html
All these have numerous sermons, online articles, resources; and Met Tab has an online bookstore.
Hope this helps!
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Very helpful! Thank you so much, Jan! :0)
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For churches around Wichita,Ks. area here is another link to search https://vmchurches.org (I have no personal experience to any in that area. Our friends attend one an hour from us in Rural Kansas.)
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Thanks, Stacey! :0)
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